Frank and Jo Anna's Geocaching Adventures!

This is why we love Geocaching! Yesterday in our quest to complete the 31 days of Geocaching we came across “Chips and Dip”. We got a good laugh as this was close by to a local Frito Lay distribution plant. It got even better, as at first it appeared to be just a nice small tin can … but when we opened it …. Yikes!! (See the photos) All of this just keeps the adventure fun!

This travel tag has traveled through 109 Geocaches and through multiple Counties. Below is a MAP to show you where it has been. Currently it is making its way thorough Spain. We first placed the travel tag on 04/10/2011. Jo Anna dedicated it to her Mom who is a Breast Cancer survivor.

Breast Cancer Travel Tag Geocoin – Current GOAL

To go around the world and share awareness, knowledge and hope for a cure for Breast Cancer.

About This Item

This Coin is dedicated to my mother who was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in the year 2000. We have NO family history of this disease yet no one is safe. She has been cancer free now for 12 years. Remember this is not just a women’s disease, men get it as well. This is for all the Mothers, Grandmothers, Sisters, Daughters, Aunts, Friends and other loved ones. For all the Doctors and Medical Scientists who are trying to find a cure we say a heartfelt “thank you” for all your work. Women are living longer lives now because of all the new breakthroughs.

Today we started on adventure that may take us a bit of time to complete, but should be a lot of fun … how can we resist helping innocent puppies? We started today be finding our first puppy, Oddball. Now, only 100 more to go! Below is the plea we received from them:

Eight of us embarked on a Caribbean Cruise on the Carnival Miracle – it was a trip that will not be forgotten for a very long time! We picked up a few geocaches along the way, but one of the most memorable caches was on Grand Turk’s Island at the Turks and Caicos National Museum.

This cache was unusual as it was actually inside a building. Geocaches are suppose to be publicly accessible. However, this location helped to keep the cache safe … not to mention it also increased tourism!

Here are a few photos from the cruise and one of Geocachers – Jo Anna was the lookout! The photo in the brush was taken at the lighthouse on the island. We rented a jeep with Mike & Amy Jo and drove around the island on our own. Mike found this cache hiding in the brush. He is great at finding caches!

In the world of Geocaching, one can seek out a cache (which is what we do most of), but one can also place a cache. Karen’s Birthday/Christmas Cache is the first cache that we have placed. In addition to placing this cache, we also kick started it with a Geocoin. Below is a photo of Karen’s Birthday Geocoin which we added to the cache:

This cache is for Karen whose birthday happens to be on Christmas Day. We wanted her to feel special because she is special to all of us. Chris and Karen got us started in Geocaching and now we’ve seen places that we’ve never seen before and experienced adventures that we never knew existed. It’s a short walk from the main road on an easy trail.
Happy Birthday Karen!!!

When Geocaching, the word “Stealth” comes to mind. The idea is to find the cache, retrieve it, sign the log and put it back without being noticed. In the adventure below, we decided to take Jo Anna’s parents with us. Here the four of us were traipsing around an electrical box out in the open looking for the cache – do you think we were noticed??? Along came a security guard who asked us what we were doing. Jo Anna’s mom immediately spilled the beans! In the end, he left us and the cache alone – Whew!

Leaves of Three – Let them be

This has been one of our favorite Geocaches!

What an adventure! We first scaled down one side of the canyon, went bushwhacking through the muddy hillside and then scaled up the other side, only to discover we really were not as close as we thought we were. To get out of the canyon, we ended up trespassing through someone’s backyard. Jo Anna was sure the police were going to take us away at any time. We cut through the yard just as the owner was coming out of the front door of the house and we made it to safety. We can’t believe she didn’t see us! Finally got on the correct trail and made it to the location. We spent 45 minutes searching – almost gave up – great hiding location!! We don’t think this was a “2” more like a 3+. This cache hadn’t been found for a while so we took the 2 travel bugs to move them along. We left one of the three little Pigs Travel Bug. This turned out to be our best caching adventure yet!

HINT: For anyone not able to find this cache, if you want some help, here is a rhyme for you … Get on your hands and knees! Remember, it is a large cache … you are not going to find it in the trees.

Early on in our Geocaching Adventures, we started taking Kevin and Sharon with us. Kevin is like a hound dog when it comes to Geocaching! The four of us have had great fun together. Kevin found this cache or should I say he sniffed this one out? Jo Anna and I had to investigate …

In the end Kevin got credit for the find. Just remember, if it looks like poop, smells like poop and feels like poop … it might be poop!! Be then again, it could be a Geocache!